Too much Spider-Man is not enough — at least, not according to Sony. The studio says it wants to release a Spider-Man movie, or a Spidey spinoff, every year. Like clockwork. Because with a great media property comes great overkill.

This fact comes from a Variety article about the fact that Sony needs more big properties — with the disappointing performance of films like After Earth, White House Down and other films, Sony has been hurting lately. The studio has high hopes for Amazing Spider-Man 2, coming this summer — but Variety quotes some stock analysts who say that the studio relies too much on Spider-Man and needs to diversify.

In response, though, Sony says it's just going to rely even more on Spider-Man. Co-chair Amy Pascal says: "We are expanding the 'Spider-Man' universe into 'The Sinister Six' and 'Venom,' so that we have 'Spider-Man' movies every year." Alex Kurtzman is directing Venom, from a script he co-wrote with longtime collaborator Roberto Orci, plus Ed Solomon. Drew Goddard is writing a Sinister Six film, and may direct as well. Marc Webb is once again directing Amazing Spider-Man 3, due out in 2016.

Obviously the "Spider-Man movie every year" notion is an attempt to copy Marvel, which is doing a couple movies per year, or Fox, which is ramping up the frequency of X-Men and other superhero films. But the problem is, Spider-Man is just one hero — and his supporting cast, although rich and complex, is clearly a supporting cast. The only Spidey character who could even remotely carry a movie is Venom, and it would have to be pretty brilliant to avoid feeling like a waste of time. Spidey just doesn't have a deep enough bench, by himself, to compare with "the X-Men and Fantastic Four micro-universes," or "all the rest of Marvel."

Meanwhile, Sony is pushing ahead with a third Smurfs movie, which will be entirely animated this time. And a Goosebumps movie. And another James Bond film, which the studio is co-financing. So there is that. [via Slashfilm]